SUDANESE paramilitary forces have killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens more with drone strikes in Central Sudan, health officials said on Thursday.

Various areas of the city of el-Obeid were targeted, including near an army position, according to two health officials at el-Obed Hospital, which received the victims.

More than 10 others were wounded, some critically, the officials said.

The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023, after long-simmering tensions between the army, supported by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates-backed paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The conflict has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced 13 million and pushed many parts of the country into famine. More than 30 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Dr Mohamed Elsheikh, a spokesperson with Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks casualty tolls, told reporters that RSF drones also hit a gas station and a funeral gathering at a cemetery in el-Obeid, killing four people there.

An aid worker with Mercy Corps told reporters that drone attacks have intensified across el-Obeid in recent days, targeting gatherings.

The worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said schools have suspended classes and markets are only partly open because of the attacks.

Local aid monitoring group Emergency Lawyers said on Thursday the toll is likely to increase as drones were still flying over the city.

The group said homes near military headquarters of the 5th Infantry Division in el-Obeid were hit, as well as a lorry bringing in food supplies. Its driver was killed, the group said.

“This series of attacks indicates a widespread pattern of targeting civilian gatherings, neighbourhoods and infrastructure, including during rescue operations and funerals,” the group also said, expressing concerns about the indiscriminate nature of the attacks.

The war, now in its fourth year, has left the Sudanese military in control of the north, east and central regions, including Sudan’s Red Sea ports and its oil refineries and pipelines.

The RSF and its allies control Darfur and parts of Kordofan along the border with South Sudan, both regions rich in oil fields and gold mines.

Drone warfare has become the deadliest threat to civilians in Sudan’s conflict and both the military and the RSF are being supplied by a number of countries in the Middle East and beyond, experts have said.

A surge in drone attacks in Kordofan has also hampered aid operations there, according to humanitarian workers.